Yep kids need boundaries and they need to be set by their responsible adults. As said above they test the boundaries, after all that's what boundaries are there for. I've rarely been left in charge of small kids, apart from the time I was an assistant primary school teacher for a few months (which I might add I loved doing) but I love interacting with them, probably my favourite regular customer is 7 years old and she has been known to come in on her own to update her account . Don't worry about it Dotsie you sound like you are doing fine and I'm certain you are going to be a wonderful mother.

We get a few spoilt monsters in the shop but the majority are fantastic and really make the job wonderful. My favourite memory is a girl of about 4 coming in with her grandmother and as she came through the door saying loudly "Now Gran, we aren't allowed to touch anything in here unless we are going to buy it". I don't remember her coming in with her parents before but I guess she had heard the line from them so often in various shops it was a standard mantra

Dotsie, you just did what every other parent in the world has done. It's ok! You did the right thing and you're going to be a wonderful mom. Hugs! I hate to tell you this, but it's going to be your child's job to prematurely age you and erode your sanity, and you'll be the one feeling guilty.

Cheery, you did the right thing too. He's probably forgotten it already.

Mad, love the story about the 4 year old! Good for her.

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees:

Catch-up wrote:I hate to tell you this, but it's going to be your child's job to prematurely age you and erode your sanity, and you'll be the one feeling guilty.

Hurray!

One of my students the other day said "well you're quite young though", to which I replied "I'm probably older than you think". "What," she said, "about 32?" Hah! I'm 41. "No way! What's your secret? Have you got children?". Me: "...No". All the female students: "Aaawwww ". Me:"Anyway"

Well, when the nieces' dad showed up for them I fessed up straight away, and he said I should definitely not worry and I should shout if I need to I think he's worried about losing his babysitter.

What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!

Don't let 'screaming the place down' be the reason why a toddler gets their own way.

I feel OK today btw.

Actually I'm feeling a bit nervous. My husband is changing the brake pads on his old work car. Never done it before, says it's a piece of cake. I drive the old work car fairly regularly. Hmmmmmm, must remember, piece of cake.

Sister Jennifer wrote:Actually I'm feeling a bit nervous. My husband is changing the brake pads on his old work car. Never done it before, says it's a piece of cake. I drive the old work car fairly regularly. Hmmmmmm, must remember, piece of cake.

It is a piece of cake. Couple of clips to unclip, couple of locating pins maybe, push the piston back pop new ones in - sorted. Unless everything is stuck, corroded, seized........then it's out with the big hammer and hit it till it moves - whilst swearing. The car will be fine........your husband on the other hand may end up with scraped knuckles, bruised body parts and rust/dirt in his eyes. I suggest having a beer ready for when he's done

((((Dotsie and Jules)))) Sounds like as perfectly normal response to me. I know I've done that a squillion times and my girls still love their mum. And when we reminisce now about some of my more 'witchy' moments, oh, how we laugh! Well said, Tony.

Of course, the other thing to watch out for is how well they pick up on things you shouldn't say. Like... The time when I was driving along with a 3 year old Elder Toothlet in the car. White van man coming the other way didn't wait behind the parked vehicles on his side of the road and just kept a comin', causing me to have to brake and wait for him. "You ignorant t*rd!" I 'commented'. "Mummy? What's an ignorant t*rd?", came the sweet little voice from the back. Thinking quickly, I responded "No, darling. I said he was ignorant. It wasn't his turn." Phew! Close one!

Tina - you're clearly pretty amazing and more than dipstick deserves. Reading your post and how he behaves, reminds me of Ike Turner, always criticising Tina even when she sounded perfect. It was all because she was the star and he was jealous of her for that. Small minded jerk. Annnnyway, go you!

Hey Dots. If it makes you feel any better I yelled at poor Thing 2 yesterday for absolutely no reason. I thought she said something snotty to me, but I completely misunderstood and she burst into tears. She has, as far as I can tell, completely forgiven me. Lots of hugs, kisses, apologies and a lollypop helped.

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees:

Sister Jennifer wrote:Actually I'm feeling a bit nervous. My husband is changing the brake pads on his old work car. Never done it before, says it's a piece of cake. I drive the old work car fairly regularly. Hmmmmmm, must remember, piece of cake.

It is a piece of cake. Couple of clips to unclip, couple of locating pins maybe, push the piston back pop new ones in - sorted. Unless everything is stuck, corroded, seized........then it's out with the big hammer and hit it till it moves - whilst swearing. The car will be fine........your husband on the other hand may end up with scraped knuckles, bruised body parts and rust/dirt in his eyes. I suggest having a beer ready for when he's done

Dotsie, as the parent of two teenagers, I can tell that you did nothing wrong. When a child is doing something dangerous, there really isn't a moment of time for negotiation, and sometimes yelling is the only way to get it through their heads. I've seen too many coddled children whose parents tried to 'negotiate' with them to keep them from doing stupid things. For some kids, this works. For some, it doesn't. As long as the kids know why you yelled at them (and you were nice to them afterward, which it sounds like you were) they should be fine.

As to being able to take care of kids, you'll do fine. But you'll make plenty of mistakes, too. I could tell you about the several times I "lost" one child or another for a minute or so in a store at an outdoor place after they ran off, and these moments are among the scariest of your life. You'll also yell at them--and try to make up afterward. No parents are perfect, if they were they'd be insufferable.

I once called another driver a w****r when i had 4yr old grandson in the car. No way to cover up that one. Had to backtract pretty quickly and explain that it was a bad word that I shouldn't have said and HE definitely must not say.

Of all the forces in the universe, the hardest to overcome is the force of habit. Gravity is easy-peasy by comparison.